Arwa Abulhasan
MALD ’04
Travels in Tanzania
I have wanted to work in Africa since I took the class Primary Health Care in Less Developed Countries, so finding an internship with the Maasai Women’s Development Organization in Tanzania this past summer was ideal. Yet it was far from the ideal internship since when I got there I found out that there was no funding for any project and no other interns. I was exasperated. Instead of getting on the plane back to Kuwait I got on a nine hour bus ride from Arusha to Dar Es Salaam to take a five day intensive course in Swahili. Armed with basic Swahili and a tiny bit more confidence I went back to Arusha to visit a variety of HIV/AIDS and Female Genital Mutilation organizations. Living with a family in Arusha and interacting with Tanzanians dedicated to social service helped me explore the reality of the concepts I had studied in the comfort of Medford. I ended up immunizing mothers and babies in a Maternal Child Health hospital in Kaloleni district in Arusha.
Since Arusha was my home I was so used to the scenes I neglected to capture what I saw day to day. I compensated for that by taking many pictures during my safari in Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro as well as the dazzling island of Zanzibar. Although I have seen many pictures of lions and elephants in these famous national parks, it was a completely different experience seeing these wild animals up close. Our days consisted of three game drives starting at 5 am! By the end of the safari we were not as fast to jump to our cameras when we saw a lion.
The safari as well as a trip to Longido was a chance for me to visit Maasai bomas, communities, where I was able to talk to the Maasai about their herbs used for medicinal purposes as well as Female Genital Mutilation. The morans, warriors who took me on a bicycle ride into the boma explained to me that the plants on top of Mt. Longido could cure HIV and that a Maasai woman would never be accepted if she was not circumcised. I was lucky to get such candid views from the Maasai as well being able to take photographs of them during a pre-circumcision ceremony.
The last leg of my trip was in Zanzibar where I fell in love with the sunsets
and beaches. The island, influenced by Arab and Indian cultures, is a lot
wealthier and more developed than the mainland. The Zanzibaris, so used to
tourists, were very friendly always going out of their way to lead you to
your destination in the narrow streets of stone town. But getting lost in
those famous narrow streets was always a pleasure since there was a multitude
of carved doors or beautiful minarets to admire. Nungwi beach in the north
of the island was another photographer’s paradise with its dhow dotted
seas and clean sandy shores.
All in all my travels in Tanzania were worth the frustration and lack of
structure that plagued the beginning of the trip. My pictures show the
fun, beautiful side of my experience, the side I want to remember and want
to share. Karibu
Arwa
